First OSL attempt: Undertaker and Ghost King WIP

[fanguad]

fanguad: Hmm, that's a good point. I did run a highlight along the bottom edge, but do you think one of the faces should be highlighted?

Yes I do. Even if the light was straight on the sword, you'd still see some reflections, but some of your pictures show him "straight on," and we can see quite a bit of the sword.

 

Everything you can see in the picture would be getting some light, and things that are closer to the light source and/or shiny would reflect more of it. I'd keep the edges of the sword really bright, but also add some color to the bottom half of the blade (I'm not sure what would look better - extending halfway down the blade or all the way). You're being really careful to keep lots of things in shadow, so I probably wouldn't add any light to the top half of the blade.

[Kuro Cleanbrush]

Nice job!  I really like your work on the undertaker's face, and that is a superb first attempt at OSL!

 

As far as what might be bugging you about the skeleton, I think the issue might me that he appears a little evenly lit.  (What I mean by that is that the lighting does not seem stronger closer to the lamp than far away from the lamp.)  Perhaps just dulling down the OSL a little on the areas farther away from the lamp would be the ticket.  But all this is just my two cents worth; you have just about as much OSL experience as I do, so feel free to take this advice with a grain of salt.  

[Slendertroll]

Good point; I'll go ahead and add some orange to that bottom face next time I get a chance to sit down and paint. My inclination is to illuminate the whole plane evenly, but I'm not quite sure that's right? I guess I'll try fading it out along the blade first.

 

EDIT: Ninja'd by Kuro! That's also a good note; I'll see if I can dim down the further areas to my lowest orange.

Edited October 26, 2014 by Slendertroll

[Cranky Dog]

Depending on the point of view, the ghost king looks as if he's recoiling from the gravedigger's light, as if it's a holy light.

 

I like!

[Slendertroll]

Thanks! I figure this isn't the first spirit the gravedigger's awakened. He's gotten pretty good at putting them down by now, I think.

[dsmiles]

Isn't that what the shovel's for?

[Edsterdoom]

Great OSL. I can't wait to see the base you make for this, you could always get doe OSL on that as well.

For example the gravedigger being ambushed as he is leaving a crypt etc.

[Slendertroll]

Hmm, I hadn't really considered that. The base right now is really simple, just a little texture on the ground and a little debris. Not sure I have the materials to build anything very elaborate right now.

[Slendertroll]

Alright, I think this is just about done. The figures aren't glued down yet, so they can be moved slightly, but this is probably pretty much what the final product will look like. As you can see, I illuminated the bottom edge of the sword, and toned down some bits on the extremes, though I'm not sure the latter really made much difference. I'm considering putting a dusting of orange on the gravestone, but I can't tell if it's needed.

 

And the base by itself. Pretty simple, but I think it adds enough texture to the scene to be effective.

[fanguad]

Definite improvement, both on the tweaks to the lighting and the base.

[tiniest rhombus]

Nicely done!

[Cranky Dog]

Oh yeah, I'm imagining the scene here.

 

Ghost King ambushes the grave digger: "I will destroy your soul".

Grave Digger: "Not impressed...", holds up holy lantern.

Ghost King recoils: "Aaaargh, the goggles, they do nothing!"

Grave Digger shakes head in disbelief: "Every freakin' Halloween."

[Slendertroll]

Put these guys up in Show Off.

[Darcstaar]

Looks great. Very clean, well thought out.